Study on the water durability of zinc boro-phosphate glasses doped with MgO, Fe2O3, and TiO2

The water durability of zinc boro-phosphate (PZB) glasses with the composition 60P2O5-20ZnO-20B2O3-xMeO (x = 0, 2, 4, 6 and MeO = MgO, Fe2O3, or TiO2) (mol%) was measured, and PZB glass was studied in terms of its thermal properties, density, and FTIR characteristics. The surface conditions and corrosion byproducts were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. When MgO, Fe2O3, and TiO2 were doped into the PZB glass, Q2 was decreased and Q1 was increased in the phosphate structure, while the number of BO4 structures increased with increasing MeO content. The density of the PZB glass was increased by the addition of Fe2O3 and TiO2, while the glass transition temperature (Tg) and dilatometric softening temperature (Td) were increased when additional MgO, Fe2O3, and TiO2 were added. From the weight loss analysis (95 ◦ C, 96 h), TiO2 doped glass showed the lowest weight loss (1.70 × 10 −3 g/cm2) while MgO doped glass showed the highest value (2.44 × 10 −3 g/cm2), compared with PZB glass (3.07 × 10 −3 g/cm2). These results were discussed in terms of the Men+ ions in the glass structure, and their different coordination numbers and bonding strengths.